Cordell
| rules = 2nd | patron deity = Helm | alignment = Neutral | source = | page = }} Cordell was a great general who conquered much of Maztica for Amn. He formed the Golden Legion as a consolidation of his previous adventuring companies. He slowly trained these remnants into a single military unit. Cordell's lover was the albino drow mage Darien who was disguised as an elf. She accompanied him on his Maztican voyage. History Pirate war Cordell's Golden Legion defeated a pirate army led by Akbet-Khrul in a great battle within Amn. The victory re-opened trade routes between Amn and other cities on the Sword Coast. Maztican Expedition Cordell's legion won the gratitude of the Council of Six and sponsorship for their now legendary expedition to Maztica. Cordell's original goal was to reach Kara-Tur by sailing westward across the Trackless Sea. The barbarian Horde blocked the overland route to Kara-Tur and Amn needed to find an alternative trade route. Cordell's fleet set sail for Kara-Tur in 1361 DR with 15 ships and 500 legionnaires. After approximately forty days at sea they made landfall on the outer islands of Maztica where they encountered primitive natives. Several days later, they landed on the Maztican mainland in Payit and began exploring the jungle. Payit Campaign Relations with the natives were peaceful until a misunderstanding resulted in a brief war between the Legion and Payit. One of the shore parties led by a young cavalry officer named Halloran was attacked by the mentally disturbed high priest of Zaltec (Mixtal). Halloran and the daughter of a Helmite bishop (Domincus) were captured by the natives. Mixtal, who had been ensorcelled by a couatl, believed the bishop's daughter was an escaped priestess intended for sacrifice to Zaltec. Mixtal cut out the woman's heart and offered it to Zaltec at a pyramid on top of the Twin Visages. A larger party of legionnaires stumbled upon the sacrifice and attempted to rescue Halloran but were driven off after killing a large number of native warriors. Halloran and the dwarf officer in charge of the second party were rescued by the couatl that had enspelled Mixtal. When news of his daughter's death reached Domincus, he demanded that Cordell punish the natives. Cordell was unable to restrain his bishop's desire for vengeance so he landed the Legion on the shore a short distance from Ulatos. The five hundred strong Legion was met on a grassy plain by nearly 20,000 native warriors from Ulatos and surrounding villages. Although the natives had superior numbers, Amnian steel, Darien's magic and a well timed calvalry charge routed the native army and many thousands of warriors were slain by the Legion. Numerous native bystanders who had come out to watch the battle were also killed by overly zealous Legionnaires. After the battle, Cordell marched the Legion into Ulatos and demanded all the gold in the city as tribute. The total haul was equivalent to over 1 million pieces of gold. Cordell banned the practice of human sacrifice and branded the most troublesome Jaguar Knights on the cheek with the eye of Helm. Cordell immediately put the Legion to work constructing a fort on the shore known as Helmsport to use as a base of operations. In order to head off a mutiny encouraged by the Council of Six's representative, Cordell ordered all ships in the fleet scuttled so that the expedition would be forced to remain in Maztica. Kultakan Campaign The natives of Ulatos told Cordell of the riches of Nexala and Cordell decided to make that city his next target. Shortly after subduing Ulatos the Golden Legion set out for Nexala with most of the Legion's men and 5,000 allied Payit warriors. Their march took them through the land of Kultaka which was the only major kingdom in Maztica never conquered by the Nexalans. The ruler of Kultaka had heard of Ulatos' defeat at the hand of the Legion and decided he would fight Cordell's force on uneven, forested ground rather than in the open as Ulatos had. The two armies met on a hillside outside the capital and, despite having the advantage of superior numbers and the high ground, the Kultakans were defeated with minimal losses to the Golden Legion. Kultaka had little wealth and thus was not of much interest to Cordell. The proud Kultakan warriors were shamed by their defeat but Cordell offered them redemption with the chance to attack their old enemy Nexala. Nexalan Campaign Cordell left Kultaka with his Legion, Payit allies and 20,000 Kultakan warriors. The most direct route to Nexala led through the village of Palul. The Nexalan ruler, Naltecona, decided that the only way to defeat the Golden Legion was through trickery so he decided to ambush the Legion during a feast in their honor in Palul. The entire Nexalan army marched to Palul before Cordell arrived and hid in houses and the surrounding forest. Several Nexalan generals who had been sent by Naltecona met Cordell in Palul and informed him of the feast. The Kultakans were not allowed to entire the town on the pretense that they were the ancient enemies of Nexala and that their presence would lead to conflict. The mage Darien scouted around the town and was able to uncover the Nexalan plot by charming a Nexalan warrior. After her warning the Legion attacked the Nexalans preemptively with Cordell personally killed both Nexalan generals and Darien slaughtering hundreds of Nexalans in the town square in the opening minutes of the battle. The Kultakan warriors pounced on the Nexalan forces hidden in the hills above the town and routed them. Cordell quickly marched his Legion and native allies to Nexal where they were greated as honored guests by Naltecona. Cordell took Naltecona hostage inside his own palace and demanded all the gold in Nexal. One of the members of the expedition stumbled upon the hidden treasure room of Naltecona's predecessor and Cordell began to make plans to move the gold out of Nexal. Meanwhile, thousands of Viperhands gathered in the central plaza of the city until they easily outnumbered the Kultakan and Payit warriors camped outside the palace complex. Cordell became concerned with the large number of native warriors gathering in the plaza so he ordered Naltecona to address the native warriors from the roof of his palace. At sunset, Darien blasted Naltecona with magic on top of the roof, revealing her true nature as a Drow. The thousands of Viperhands attacked Cordell's native allies in the square and the battle raged through the night. The hundreds of Legionnaires trapped in the palace were finally able to break out of the central plaza and ran for the causeway leading out of the city. While they were fighting their way out of Nexal the Bishop Nexal was taken captive and sacrificed to Zaltec. The sacrifice of the Bishop resulted in a direct clash between Helm and Zaltec's power which caused Mt. Zatal to explode. The resulting cataclysm destroyed much of Nexal. Post-Night of Wailing After Nexal was destroyed in the Night of Wailing, Cordell and some of his Legion escaped into the House of Tezca desert along with Erixitl and Halloran. The refugees were pursued by the monsters of Nextal, lead by Hoxitl. They found a large oasis and made a stand against the monstrous horde. Cordell's forces won the battle and the monsters retreated back to Nexal. The oasis later became the city of Tukan. Cordell sent Eagle Warriors in eagle form to scout over the landscape. One returned and informed Cordell that Don Vaez had landed at Helmsport and imprisoned members of the Golden Legion. Cordell set off for Helmsport with a small, mixed force of Legionnaires and natives. After several months he arrived at the port and confronted Don Vaez who had Cordell imprisioned in the fort. Some time afterwards, a force of Desert Dwarves, Wild halflings and natives led by Halloran arrived in the vicinity of Helmsport. Golden Legion members in Vaez's expedition rescued Cordell from prison and, at the sight of thousands of warriors camped outside the fort, Vaez's soldiers switched allegiance to Cordell's side. Cordell sent Vaez's fleet to the Sea of Azul to bring back the native troops he had left behind in the House of Tezca. Second Battle of Ulatos Not long after Halloran's army arrived at Helmsport, Hoxitl's monstrous army, along with Zaltec's avatar arrived at Ulatos. Zaltec was uninterested in the humans and continued on to the Twin Visages. Cordell met Hoxitl's army in the field outside of Helmsport. Despite being outnumbered 3-to-1, Cordell's troops fought bravely and inflicted huge casualties on Hoxitl's orcs and ogres. Cordell was eventually forced inside the fort with his remaining soldiers who were able to resist several waves of attacks against the fort. The fleet and 20,000 native warriors sailed into port while Cordell was trapped in the fort. The arrival of reinforcements and the banishment of Zaltec's avatar back to the planes caused Hoxitl's army to return to Nexal. As of 1362 DR Cordell is governor of Ulatos and lives on a large estate near Helmsport. Later Years In time around Cordell's estate grew in 1364 DR a new city, called Qoral. At same time Cordell faced challenges from the new settlement of New Waterdeep and from his newest "assistant" from Amn, the Council's Third Grand Assessor Darius Bormul VI. In 1370 DR, a Jaguar Knight wielding forged-metal claws like a Malar-priest attacked Cordell in his bedroom trying to kill him. The assassin failed, but managed to escape without a trace. Appearance Cordell was described as having dark hair and a black beard. Gallery Cordell's Voyage.jpg|Cordell's Voyage campaign map References * Footnotes Category:Humans Category:Members of the Golden Legion Category:Mercenaries Category:Fighters Category:Males Category:Inhabitants of Amn Category:Inhabitants of the Lands of Intrigue Category:Locations in West Faerûn Category:Inhabitants of Faerûn Category:Inhabitants of Maztica Category:Inhabitants of Toril Category:Inhabitants Category:Governors Category:Worshipers of Helm Category:Inhabitants of Payit Category:Inhabitants of neutral alignment